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Butterball Wiki
Welcome to the Butterball Wiki Butterball Wiki is an informational site and resource for students, educators, parents and anyone wanting to learn about training a dog to be an assistance and / or therapy dog. This site is named after Butterball, a golden retriever that my husband and I are training to be both a therapy and assistance dog. We will document Butterball's training milestones and achievements on this site to show the challenges and rewards involved with training a puppy. Butterball was a gift from our friend, Jayla Bullock Townsend. He was 8 weeks old when he came home with us. The picture on the left is his first day at home. We named him Butterball since he was very round and fluffy as a puppy. To make sure he had a good training foundation, we immediately signed up for a basic training class at PetsMart. My husband, Butterball and I learned the basic commands including sit, stay, free, come here, etc. After successfully completing his basic training class, we immediately signed him up for Intermediate and then advanced class. The classes required a lot of patience and practice, we all had our good days and bad days. Petsmart puppy and dog training courses or similar classes are a great starting point for both you and your dog to learn basic commands and social skills. Once Butterball completed his advanced training class, we signed up for private lessons so we could start learning the commands and behaviors for the AKC's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification. According to the AKC website, the CGC program is designed to reward dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. The Canine Good Citizen Program is a two-part program that stresses responsible pet ownership for owners and basic good manners for dogs. All dogs who pass the 10-step CGC test may receive a certificate from the American Kennel Club. After a couple of private lessons with Karen Smalley from CPT, Butterball earned his CGC certification. The next step is earning his Therapy Dog Certificate. It is important to note that when Butterball is not training, he is a normal energetic dog. He loves to play and run with other dogs at the dog park. He also likes to walk around our neighborhood and greet everyone we see. When he is in our backyard, he loves to hunt for squirrels, chipmunks, field mice and birds. He also loves to help out in the garden but spends most of his time playing with the water hose. However, his favorite activity is riding in the car with my husband and me. Long drives do not bother him, he sleeps most of the time. Butterball also loves to look out the front window of his home as neighbors walk by. My husband and I travel for work so when we are both out of town, Butterball stays at Atlanta Pet Resort. He loves to stay with them since the staff are great with the dogs and he likes the music they play for the dogs. AKC Therapy Dog Certificate To earn the AKC Therapy Dog™ title, you and your dog must meet the following criteria: #Certified/registered by an AKC recognized therapy dog organization. #Perform a minimum of 50 visits. #The dog must be registered or listed with AKC. All dogs are eligible to earn the AKC Therapy Dog title, including purebreds and mixed breeds. To earn the AKC Therapy Dog title, dogs must be registered or listed with AKC and have a number in order to earn a title. This includes any one of these three options: #AKC registration number – used by purebred dogs. #Enrolled in AKC's PAL Program. #*[[|PAL is Purebred Alternative Listing]]. PAL (formerly called ILP) is a program that allows unregistered dogs of [[|registerable breeds]] to compete in AKC Performance and Companion Events. PAL dogs include the many wonderful purebred dogs who may have come from shelters or rescue without AKC registration. #Enrollment in AKC Canine Partners Program – used by mixed breed dogs. #*A special Canine Partners enrollment form is available for mixed breed Therapy Dogs — AKC Therapy Dog Enrollment Application. This form must be submitted along with the Therapy Dog title application form. For additional information regarding the AKC Therapy Dog Program, follow this link: http://www.akc.org/dogowner/therapy/index.cfm Latest activity Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Wikia's Video Library. Category:Browse